Tele-town halls to keep residents updated on health care reform

Rep. Kyrsten Sinema has announced three tele-town hall meetings in to take place in October to hear residents’ stories, concerns or ideas about health care reform.

Sinema, a Phoenix Democrat, is the only Arizonan of the 32 state legislators on President Obama’s White House Health Reform Task Force.

Sinema arranged and attended nine town hall meetings in August to gauge public opinion and find out what people wanted from health care reform.

The main purpose of the upcoming meetings, however, is to keep people updated and help them understand issues as legislation moves forward, Sinema said.

“The tele-town halls are a convenient way for people to get updates on what’s happening in Congress,” she said. “You can call in from all over the state and not have to travel somewhere.”

Task force members have phone call meetings every Monday, as well as phone and e-mail contact throughout the week. They also intend to lobby in Washington D.C. The meetings and trip will be the subjects for the tele-town halls, which will be held Oct. 7 at 7 p.m., Oct. 15 at 5 p.m. and Oct. 29 at 6 p.m.

To RSVP for the town hall, e-mail azhealthreform@gmail.com, with the date of the forum in the subject line. Inside the e-mail include your name, address and phone number. A reply e-mail will contain the town hall phone number.

3 comments

Holding a faceless electronic “meeting” from an undisclosed location is a transparent attempt by Sinema to avoid the “Tea Party” she — more than probably any other Arizona legislator — richly deserves.